Lots to fill you in on!! sorry its been a while, been very busy having fun :D

After a couple of days wondering around temples we thought that it was about time we do something productive. We decided to go on a 3 day trek which included elephant riding, swimming in waterfalls and white water rafting. That morning we got picked up by our guide named Noom. Hopped into the minivan to join two other english people called Rachael and Matt. We then set off to pick up the rest of the group from various places. Next in were the two italians Didia and Dario who kindly introduced themselves. Then we picked up four french Blanche Fleur, Philip, Charlene and Thomas. Last pick up was two dutch girls and one other girl who unfortunately had to take the front seat with Noom as we were already squished in like sardines. Everybody introduced themselves and started up a conversation which lightened the mood.

We stopped off at the market so that Noom could pick up supplies for our trek. We found out that the girl in the front turned out to be english and her name was Muireann which brought the english to a total of 5 haha we rule! We set out in search of snacks from the market, as we wondered we stumbled across what looked like fried potato but it actually turned out to be battered Banana which sounded quit interesting so we decided to try some and it turned out to be tasty! Everyone then hopped back into the minivan to head for the first camp. We arrived at the camp for a lunch of rice and carrots before setting off on our elephant ride. Hanna and I were a bit apprenhensive about climbing on as it didn't look very sturdy or safe. After stepping on the poor elephants head we sat down and got strapped in. Some of the others werent as lucky as us. They had been split into three's which meant that one of them would have to sit on the elephants head for the hour long ride through the jungle. Blanche Fleur was loving it while Muireann did not look so enthusiastic. The elephants then set off through the forest, as everybody else went on ahead, our elephant decided to take several lunch breaks which left us trailing behind for about 10 minutes. I'm glad we did it even though we were hanging on for our lives as the elephant attempted to climb some steap slopes.

After the elephant ride it was time to start our 3 1/2 hour trek to the hill tribe camp. It was such hot day that knowbody looked very enthusiastic about the journey ahead but we all picked up walking sticks and set off on the gruelling walk. Knowbody told us that it was going to be 95% uphill! It was about 35 degrees that day which didn't help. The last 25 minutes was the hardest part which left everyone gasping for breath. We could see the camp but knowbody had the energy to push that last bit. Eventually we all got there after nearly 4 hrs walking. The camp had the most gorgeous views down the mountains. Everybody got settled in and ventured to the showers to freshen up with a freezing cold shower. The hill tribe had no running electricity so we made do with several candles as the sun began to set. We all gathered round in a circle to eat the dinner that Noom made from scratch. He had made us red curry with chicken and pumpkin, he also made stir fried veg and there was plenty of rice to go round everybody at least twice. There was such a nice atomospere in that camp as everybody chatted away while the sun was setting. As soon as it got dark the drinks started to flow and out came Noom's guitar. He had a massive pile of songs that we could pick from as long as we sang a long. Didia was in his element here as he is a professional singer in Italy so we let him do most of the singing!! After a couple of hours singing half of the group retired to bed while the french carried on drinking! The next day we woke to find breakfast waiting for us outside. A massive pot of tea, endless toast and fruit filled us up before we gathered our bags to start the day. We set off at 11 on a hour walk to the first waterfall. It had been raining the night before which meant that the paths were very slippery, this didn't help as the majority of the walk was downhill. Nearly everybody slipped over at some point (aimee twice). It was worth the struggle to reach the waterfall. I had been at the front of the group so rachael, matt, muireann and I reached it first. We decided to jump in quick before everybody else caught up. Eventually everybody got in and cooled down. We then had noodles for lunch before continuing to the next waterfall. It was a 30 minute walk to the next waterfall which meant more slippery down hill slopes! The second waterfall was a lot bigger but you couldn't really swim as the force of the waterfall was way to powerful meaning that girls were more than likely going to loose their bikinis if they went in. Only Blanche went in whilst clutching her bikini tight to make sure she didn't loose it. We then heading off to the base camp for the night. This camp was set in the middle of the forest next to a running river. Hanna, rachael, matt, didia and I jumped at the chance to cool off in the river. That night we had green curry with rice and veg. As everybody settled into the camp we decided to make a fire. This ended in Noom destroying Matt's attempt at building a fire and building his own. We spent the night sitting round the fire listening to Noom's interesting stories about past group's and creepy stories about a man that went missing (not sure whether we beleive that one). The rest of the group were sat around the table playing cards and teaching each other rude, silly words in other languages (trust boys). The final day we got up to the same breakfast before heading off to the base camp to do white water rafting!! Hanna and I were really excited as we have never done it before. We teamed up with rachael, matt and muireann in our raft. I ended up falling in, not because there was a massive rapid but because a massive cockroach landed on my head causing hanna to squeal which made me fall backwards. Everybody found it so hilarious that they couldn't bring themselves to help me out of the water. It was only me and matt that fell out during the hour long ride. Very choppy rapids which were so fun! As the water calmed down we realised that this meant that we would be coming to a stop. Nooo the end of the trek was in sight!! Everybody had a good laugh that day. We all sat down to enjoy our last meal together before going back to chiang mai. Everybody exchanged numbers and facebook to keep in touch. Hanna and I decided to buy the pictures of our elephant ride which are hilarious ( I will upload to facebook soon!) It was then time for everybody to gather their things before being split up and taken back to their hotels :( That was the last time that we saw Didia and Dario but the rest met up for a drink that night.

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